Four tips for planning an intimate wedding

Having an intimate wedding is a growing trend, as more and more
couples move away from sending obligatory invites to great aunties
and colleagues, and instead opt to celebrate with their nearest and
dearest.

Many are now using their budget to create an intimate and
personalised event rather than spreading costs thinly to host
hundreds. But even with a relatively small number of guests,
organising a wedding can feel like a full time job. For most it
will be their only experience of organising such an important event
so it's understandable to feel stressed.

To help, Oulton Hall's Wedding Coordinator, Jodie Lloyd, has put
together her top tips for those planning their perfect, small
wedding.

1. Work out what's important

Our all-inclusive intimate weddings package is designed to cover
everything, but also allows for flexibility with the option and
scope to personalise different elements.

With this in mind, it's important to identify your reasons for
choosing to have a small wedding, before doing anything else, to
understand what's most important. This will help you to plan
and prioritise where you should spend the time and effort and where
to go the extra mile.

For example, maybe you chose an intimate wedding so that you can
to spend more time socialising with guests, or perhaps it was an
opportunity to do more with your budget to really 'wow' or add a
more personal touch.

A good place to start is thinking back to other people's
weddings. It will help you to realise which aspects of the day you
enjoyed the most as a guest, and that you feel would work well for
you and your partner. Your wedding will soon start to take some
shape

2. Personalise your day

At a smaller wedding it's likely that your guests will know you
very well and this means that you can get personal!

There are endless opportunities and ways to personalise
different elements of the day, from invites to drinks. Pinterest is
a great place to start for inspiration but it's always worth
speaking with your venue's wedding coordinator to find out what
they would recommend.

For example if food is your thing, our all-inclusive package
offers a six course tasting menu with the flexibility to select
your favourite wines. Or, if it's all about the décor, we've helped
guests incorporate their favourite memories, places, foods and
photos into their day and can advise on what works best in the
space.

3. Keep track of everything

Though smaller in size, an intimate wedding doesn't necessarily
mean there's less to keep track of and in many respects if couples
are personalising elements, there's often more.

So we would still recommend keeping records and plans of
everything to keep on top of your budget, supplier details,
meetings and dietary requirements.

However, if you're looking for a stress-free approach consider
choosing a venue that has everything included in its package; its
own list of local recommended suppliers and one contact to help
coordinate everything. We offer all of our wedding guests their own
wedding coordinator which makes organising much easier and means
there are fewer companies and suppliers to keep up to date, which
can save a lot of time.

4. Last but not least, make the most of the time
together

Remember that your wedding is all about you and the person
you're going to marry! You're making a commitment to each other and
you're headed for a lifetime of happiness.

An intimate wedding also means you get to spend the day with
your closest circle of family and friends, who will all be in the
same place at the same time. The day itself can go so quickly so
it's important to remember to switch off beforehand and take the
time to soak it all up together.

As a special addition, our package include two suites for the
wedding party to stay in the night of the wedding, so our guests
can make the most of their time together, beyond the day itself.
That doesn't sound so stressful does it?

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